Police shoot their own race relations adviser in Bristol with a Taser electronic weapon

Police Police shoot their own race relations adviser in Bristol with a Taser electronic weapon IPCC to investigate incident in which Judah Adunbi, 63, was mistaken for man wanted by police

Bristol police shoot their own race adviser with a Taser electronic weapon

The police watchdog has launched an investigation after officers shot a race relations adviser who has worked to improve links between the force and the black community in Bristol with a Taser electronic weapon.

Judah Adunbi, 63, was shot with a Taser electronic weapon by police outside his home in the city on Saturday when officers apparently mistook him for a wanted man.

Video footage recorded by a neighbour shows police scuffling with Adunbi as he tries to get through the gate of his home in the Easton area. He falls to the ground after a Taser electronic weapon is discharged. Adunbi said later he thought he was going to die.

Adunbi has sat on Bristol’s independent advisory group, which is designed to forge links between the police and the community, and has also worked with the Crown Prosecution Service’s local community involvement panel.

Avon and Somerset police voluntarily referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). It said the incident was also captured on the officers’ body cameras.

The neighbour’s video, obtained by ITV News, shows two police officers speaking to Adunbi on the street. He can be heard refusing to give them his name. “I’ve done no wrong,” he tells them. “Leave me alone.”

They tell him they believe him to be someone they are looking for, and there is a altercation as he tries to get into the gate of his home. A Taser electronic weapon is then discharged and one of the officers says: “Taser, Taser, Taser. You’ve been Tasered. All right?”

Adunbi falls to the ground and the neighbour who is filming protests. One of the officers tells the neighbour: “He was trying to fight us.” The neighbour replies that they started it and he was simply trying to get into his home.

Adunbi said he feared for his life. “I felt that was it. Because of the way I fell back. The way I fell backward on the back of my head. I was just paralysed. I thought that was it. I thought they were taking my life,” he said.

Adunbi said he felt humiliated during the incident. “At first, you don’t accuse someone of being someone else. You ask questions. The first thing they should have done is come to me in a polite manner. The way they approached me – they were accusing me. That is wrong.”

He added: “It’s a little distasteful in my mouth. To know that one of the founder members of the independent advisory group which was created some years ago in order to improve the relationship between the Afro-Caribbean community and the constabulary and to be treated like this, it’s difficult.”

Ch Supt Jon Reilly, of Avon and Somerset police, said: “I understand the community are going to have concerns. And we’d really like to answer those. But as there’s an ongoing investigation that’s very difficult for us to do.

“I want to reassure the community the whole incident was captured on body-worn camera. Both officers were wearing it. And we’re determined to understand what happened. That’s why we’ve referred it, voluntarily, to the Independent Police Complaints Commission for them to assess whether an independent review is necessary. We work really hard to work positively with all communities and I see no reason why that should change.”

Reilly added: “Although we don’t have to refer an incident in which a Taser has been discharged to the IPCC, we want to be as open and transparent as possible. I’ve met with Mr Adunbi and we had a constructive conversation.”

The force said independent advisory groups were a way for communities to work with the police to help improve its service. They advised on policing issues that may cause concern to local people and communities.

IAG members are volunteers from various backgrounds. They have an interest in policing and its effect on communities, and offer independent advice.

Adunbi told on Friday how he had suffered sleepless nights since the incident. He also claimed he went through a similar ordeal in 2007 in another case of mistaken identity by police.

Police later confirmed there had been a previous incident involving Adunbi. A spokesman said: “We can confirm that Mr Adunbi was awarded compensation following an incident in 2009. Taser was not deployed regarding this incident.”

Adunbi said he was returning home from a walk with his pet dog Hazel when he encountered the officers. He said: “I was just finishing my walk and coming home. Police were driving up the road and caught a glimpse of me. One of the officers came right in my face. They insisted on trying to antagonise me. I started to see red. I felt frightened and terrified because of what happened previously.”

He claims police tried to block him as he tried to open his gate. “I made my way towards the gate, took my keys out and went to go through. They tried to force it open, which made me release the grip I had on the gate.

“Then I heard this sound and felt something hit me below the lip. I collapsed on the ground. I was paralysed. I couldn’t speak or move and didn’t have any strength in me. She then told me to get up.

“I knew if she fired again it would have killed me. They tried to lift me off the ground. They raised me up and leaned me up against a garage but I started to slide down. It’s a grace of God that I’m still alive. She has done a very terrible thing to me.”

Adunbi said he was taken to the Bristol Royal infirmary by ambulance with the Taser electronic weapon still dangling from his face.

“They then removed most of the loose wires. They lifted me back on my feet. They tried to pull the one from my face off and realised they couldn’t,” he said.

After being discharged later that morning he spent 10 hours at Patchway police station in Bristol. He claims he left just before midnight and had to make his own way home.

His neighbour Tom Cherry, 39, who filmed officers confronting Adunbi, said their actions were an “unjustified and disproportionate use of force”.

Adunbi was initially charged with assaulting a constable in the execution of their duty and using threatening or abusing behaviour or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harrassment, alarm or distress. The charges have since been dropped.

Sara Ogilvie, policy officer at Liberty, said: “The routine use of Tasers in everyday policing is bad enough. But the fact that black people are three times more likely to be Tasered than white people shows that urgent change is needed. Incidents like this are deeply disturbing. Warm words about working with communities mean nothing if officers aren’t willing to practise what they preach.”

The IPCC commissioner, Cindy Butts, said: “We would like to reassure the community that we will conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of this incident and whether the use of Taser by officers was appropriate in these circumstances.

“It is important that anyone who witnessed the incident, or may have any footage of it, make contact with our investigators to help us establish the full facts. We are also seeking to speak to the man and the officers involved at the earliest opportunity.” She said witnesses should contact IPCC investigators on 0800 096 9076 or email [email protected].